In addition to viruses and worms, there are some other annoying programs and files out there that you need to protect your home network from. This chapter focuses on spam, cookies, spyware, and scams—what they are, how they work, and how to get rid of or at least control them.

This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

In addition to viruses and worms, there are some other annoying programs and
files out there that you need to protect your home network from. This chapter
focuses on spam, cookies, spyware, and scams—what they are, how they work,
and how to get rid of or at least control them. For the most part, these types
of files are not as dangerous as the others we discussed in Chapter 15,
"Viruses and Other Malicious Software"—none of them will remove
or destroy data for example—but they are still common, extremely annoying,
and in some cases, they can do things without you knowing about it.

Spam

Spam is the common name for unsolicited e-mail and it is a problem
that is rampant on the Internet today. Because of spam, a whole sub-industry of
spam blockers has cropped up and is a major concern of Internet service
providers (ISPs). Major service providers claim that they block on the order of
2 billion (yes, billion) unsolicited e-mails everyday and have put the effort to
stop spam at the top of their priority lists. One of the reasons that spam is so
widespread is that it is extremely easy to send out millions of e-mails with
little cost.

How Spam Works

Spammers do their dirty work by purchasing or creating giant e-mail lists and
automated mailing tools called spambots. The lists are usually compiled
from web pages where people provide their e-mail address as part of a
registration process. Usually, there is a box that is checked "yes" by
default saying something along the lines of "Yes, please share my e-mail
with your sponsors for related offers." If you agree, by leaving the box
checked, you have just given the site permission to sell and resell your e-mail
address to spammers. Although most spam gets caught by filters or deleted by the
recipient, some of it is answered and that is why the spammers keep at it. It is
really a matter of odds. Even if the response rate is 0.5%, it cost next to
nothing to send spam to upward of 10 million e-mail addresses. At that rate, the
spammer just pulled in 50,000 new customers.

GEEK SQUAD

Spammers also collect e-mails from web page "guest books" and
message boards. Be careful where you leave your e-mail address. If you are
lonely, this is agreat way to make sure you always have new mail in your
inbox.

Spam

Spam is unsolicited commercial e-mail, and it is a huge problem. Some
large ISPs claim that they block over one billion e-mails a day and some still
gets through. Here is one example of how spammers get their info.

Despite your ISP's efforts to block spam, it still comes through in
droves. Be careful with whom you share your address

How to Block Spam

There is a good chance that your ISP has some sort of spam-blocking feature
available and, if spam is a problem for you, we suggest starting there. Your ISP
probably uses some basic filters such as looking for keywords or multiple
(100,000+) instances of an e-mail from the same source IP address.
Unfortunately, spammers (those who create and send spam) are pretty good at
staying ahead of the ISPs by using random or misspelled words or by constantly
changing IP addresses as they send e-mails. (There is also talk of anti-spam
legislation, but spammers can easily set up shop in countries with looser laws.)
If the ISP filters are not blocking enough spam, you can purchase or download
software that will provide a second layer of protection on your system.
Typically, these programs use advanced algorithms to recognize and block spam
but they are not perfect because sometimes spam gets through the filter, and
sometimes legitimate e-mail gets blocked (essentially a false positive). You can
modify the options in this program so that the blocking rules are customized. Be
sure to check the folder that the spam blocker drops trash e-mail into every
once in a while to make sure you don't miss "real" e-mail.

We recommend that in addition to using the ISP and commercial blockers that
you set up a dirty e-mail address. What we mean by dirty e-mail address
is an e-mail address that is only used for the purpose of registering on web
pages. Given that most ISPs will allow several e-mail aliases with a standard
account, you can reserve one for this purpose and still have plenty for the
legitimate users in the home.

After you do this, only give your "real" e-mail out to people you
know and use the dirty one for everything else. If you find that you do want
some of the e-mail that comes into the dirty account, you can notify the sender
to use your real e-mail address. Keep in mind that most legitimate commercial
sites will not resell or share your e-mail address without your permission, but
it's up to you to make sure that you read the fine print and uncheck any
boxes that were pre-populated. This is always a red flag.

GEEK SQUAD

Just in case you are wondering, replying to a spam e-mail does not stop it
from coming. In fact, such replies are used by the spammers to confirm
"live" e-mail addresses, which then get put on a verified list. After
this happens, you might as well retire the e-mail address.